Interlocking apparatus



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INTERLOGKING APPARATUS.

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UNITED STATES ALBERT G. CUMMINGS, OF HARRISBURG, ASSIGNOR TO THE PENNSYLVANIA STEEL COMPANY, F STEELT-ON, PENNSYLVANIA.

v PATENT OFFICE.

INTERLOCKING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 270,024, dated January 2,1883. Application filed June 14, 1882. (No model.)

To alt whom it may concern: t

Be 1t known that I, ALBERT GALLATIN CUM- MINGS, of Harrisburg,'in thecountyot Dauphin and State ot' Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefullinproveinents in Inter, lockingAppaI-atus, of which improvements the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the operation of railroad switches and signals; and its object is to provide a device simple iii construction and positive in its action, whereby the s'witcl1lever and signal-lever shall be interlocked, so that the switch-lever cannot operate to shift the switch until the signal has lirst been set to indicate cl-anger, and so long as either one oi' the levers is unlocked and free to be operated the other lever is locked and secured in its position by the operation of the one which is unlocked or moving. e

To these ends my invention consists in combiningwiih the switch and signal levers afixed guide-plate and an oscillating locking-plate, so

that the levers are respectively controlled by the guide-plate, while their movements under such control actuate the locking-plate, which in its turn prevents the `operation of both levers simultaneously, and `co-'operates with the i guide-plate in making the control of the movements ot' the levers positive. The guide-plate is provided with recesses and slots in which the levers can be moved -laterally and lon gitudinallyin right lines. the recesses having shoulders against which the levers will be locked in their normal or reversed positions. The locking-plate is provided with 'slots and recesses,

, which permit it to accommodate itself tothe movements of the levers, and in thus accommodating itselfto perform its special functions. The levers not only oscillate the locking-plate at the proper time, but they also prevent its movement except at the proper time,and while moving` in right lines each lever moves under lateral tension, which is applied at the beginn ing and removed at the end of each throw.

Bothlevers may be free to move laterally at the same time, but in no case can both of them be moved longitudinally at the same time, the combination of the levers with the slotted and recessed fixed guide-plate and the slotted and reV fords a separate fulcrum for each of the switch Y cessed oseillatin g lockin g-plate being such that 5o thesimultaneouslateralinovementofbothofthe levers into or out ofthe recesses would always leave one of them locked by the lockingpl'ate against longitudinal movement untill the one which is not so locked has reached the opposite end of the guide-plate and is locked against longitudinal movement by one ot' the shoulders in the recess. In practice, only one lever is moved either laterally or longitudinally at a time, and consequently the operation ot' this 6g combination is sueh,`in whatever position the levers may be, that one or the other of them is always either locked against longitudinal movement by the locking-plate before the other, lever is thrown, or else is so locked at the very commencement of thethrow ofthe other lever, and remains so locked during and at tmlevndWM of this throw.

In tbe accompanying drawings, which form part of this specication, Figure l is a side 7o elevation of aninterlockiu gapparatus embodying my improvements, and Fig. 2 is an end elevation ot' the saine. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are plan views, on an enlarged scale7 of the guide plate or top ofthe frame, showing also the leversin cross-section and the oscillating lockingplate in dotted lines, saidlevers and lockingplate being thus indicated in the relative positions which they respectively occupy at different points ot' their movements, as hereinafter 8o more particularly explained. Fig. 6 is a plan view, on a still larger scale, of the oscillating locking-plate; and Fig. 7 is a side view, on the same scale as Fig. 6, of portions of a lever and .A fr of the locking devices.`

D I) D' represent a frame, which may be ot' any ordinary form suitable for supporting the guide-plate B, which is permanently secured across the top of the frame. A strong rod or pin, S, with proper spaeing-thimbles, serves to 9o tie the frame together at itslower end, and at'- and signal levers A A. This frame is ofcase iron, and'is firmly secured in its proper position upon a bed-piece in the ordinary manner. It will he observed that the frame is shown as having its upper surfaceinclined, the object of which is to give it the advantage ofireadily the guide-plate, and at each end of each of these and under this lateraltension it will constantly ing-plate C is provided with two longitudinal therefrom twice its own width.

1 of the levers respectively to the switch and'sigwhich the levers are moved, as hereinafter de- 'its movement.

w PV.../'into a wider recess, o o', which forms abrupt -recesses fgin the guideplate B,`and along shedding rain or snow orother accumulations. The connections leading from the lower ends n'al are not shown, as their construction is well understood.

The guide-plate B is provided with two parallel slots, b and c, in which the upper ends of the levers A A respectively move lengthwise ot' slots isa lateral recess, d cfg, into and out of scribed. It is to be observed that as the levers move longitudinally in parallel lines, so they move laterally in one direction, whether right or left. The fulcrum of each of' the levers is perpendicular to the lateral recesses d e andf g, while the slots b and c are located so far to one side of these vperpendiculars respectively that when the lever is moved into the slot its deilection from a straightline will give the lever a positive hearing upon the side of the slot,

tend to spring back into Whichever one of the recesses Vit may be moved opposite to, and the shoulders cl ef g ot' the respective recesses will then hold the lever in its normal or its reversed position, according to the direction of Beneath the guide-plate B, and parallel thereto, is the locking-plate C, Fig. 6, centrally suspended from the guide-plate by the pivot 7L, upon which it-oscillates. This oscillatinglockslots, t' and It', of equal length, but not parallel with each other, one ot' them being in line with the adjacent side of the locking-plate, while the other is at an angle to that line,diverging The levers A A pass through these slots t' and It, respectively, and in their movements oscillate the plate C Within the limits allowed by this divergence, asA hereinafter described. The straight slot t' is enlarged at one end by a recess, n, which forms an abrupt lateral shoulder, u. projecting at right angles to the side of the slot. A curved spring, p, is secured to the bottom oftheplate(l, partially b eneath the recess a, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig.. 6, for a purpose to be hereinafter described. The inclined slot k is enlarged at the end of i-t which is farthest from the recess n in the slot lateral shoulders im, projecting one on each side ofthe slot. ,Y

Each of the levers AA consists of a strong flat bar of metal properly pivoted near its lower end upon the rod or fulcrum-pin S, and having proper portions ot' its length tted to move snugly but not too tightly in and out of the slot b and recesses el e and slot c and the slots t' lc and recesses n, 0 o' in the lockingplate G, through both ot' which plates the levers pass, as seen in Figs. l and 2. At that part of' each of the levers which is just beneath the locking-plate C, I make an enlargement, a.

a, Figs. l and 7, by spreading the metal, as shown, in width, but not in thickness, which enlargement will pass freely through the slots t' k ot' the locking-plate. lt will be seen that when either of theI levers is at the end of'its throw the enlargement a a will be entirely below the locking-plate; but whenever thelever is moved into and along its slot in the guideplate, then the enlargement a a enters the corresponding slot in the locking-plate and gives an increased width ot' bearing in that slot as .the lever reaches the point about which the locking-plate oscilllites, and by this increased hearing the locking-plate is prevented from moving at this part of the throw of the lever,

so as to release the other lever, as it will be readily understood it might do but for the iucrcase of bearing given to compensate the approach of the lever to the center or pivot oi oscillation oi' the plate.

4The operation ot' the device is as follows:

rlhe lever A is connectedv with the signal and the leverA with the switch in the usual manner, and we will assume them to be respectively in the positions shown in Figs. l and 2, the switch being set for the Ymain line and the signalindicatingsafety77 Inthispositionthc switch-lever A will be rmly held against lon-- gitudinal movement by the shoulder g ot` the recess g in the guide-plate B,its lateral movement being prevented bycontact with the side o of the end recess in the locking-plate C. The signal-lever A is at the same ti'm'e rmly held against longitudinal movement bythe shoulder d of the recess d, but is free to be moved laterally ont ot' the recess. With the lever`s in this position it will further lie-understood that the shoulder m of the recess o o is across the slot cof the guide-plate, and is thus locked upon the lever A. It', now, both levers were simultaneously moved side'wise into the slots b c, then in such movement the lever A would oscillate the lockingplate C' upon its pivot, the shoulder m of the recess o o still, however, remaining across the slot c in the guide-plate and still locking the lever A in .this slot, while the slot b in the guide-plate and 'the slot t in the locking-plate would be brought into coincidence, and, being unobstructed, would permit the free movement ot' the leverA in those slots. This movement is indicated in Fig. 3, the lever A having been moved through one-half of its arc, as shown, and the enlargement a a ou the lever restraining the oscillation of the locking-plate, andv TUO IOS

TIO

of the lockingplate C across the slot b of slots and recesses may be varied in their relathe guide-plate B, so as `to close the slot b against backward movement of the signallever A. rlhisposition is 'shown in Fig. 4. The levers in this position are held against t longitudinal movement in the recesses g and c, respectively, at the opposite ends of' the guideplate, and each of them is free to be moved laterally out of the recesses g and e; but they cannot `both be moved along the slots'simultaneously, as the longitudinal movementofeither one of them instantly locks the other-that is to say, the signal being now (Fig. 4) set at dan ger]7 the switch is to be shifted, for which operation the lever A must be moved out of the recess g into the slots c k, andalong those slots until it'reaches the end of its throw and "c k, the lever A has been locked against longitudinal movement, because this movement of 3 5 p comes into operation.

upon the locking-plate insuch position as tov A secures the shoulder u of the slot t' in its position across the slot b, and this locking of A against'longitudinal movement cannot be disturbed again until the lever A has been restored to its normal position; but the lever A may still be moved laterally simultaneously with A. Fig. 5 shows this operation and the reversed position of the levers, as Fig. l shows theirnormall position; and it is in bringing the levers to this reversed position that the spring This spring istted extend under the recess n and bear against the y side of the lever A, so as to constantly tend to throw the locking-plate into a straight line, and thus to press the lever A away from tbe shoulder u ot' the recess n. Itwill be seen that l whenever the lever A is moved out of the recess gend along the slots c and lr, as above described, this spring will tend to press the lever A toward the straight side of the slot t; but when the lever A has been moved into the recess f, and the locking-plate oscillates to its extreme position, theV lever A will push the spring away and bear against the shoulder u until the position of the locking-plate is so far changed as to relieve the spring and allow it again to press thelever away from the recess n.

l have shown the slotted and recessed plates B and C as the best form for controlling and holding the levers; but it is obvious that these tive positions to adapt them to other positions of the levers, and that any other forni of catches or holders may be substituted for the recesses at the sides'of the slots. l therefore do not desire to limit my invention to the precise arrangement shown, nor to any details of construction of the several parts, so long as the locking of the levers is accomplished by their lateral movement in conjunction with a centrally-pivoted oscillating plate.

The spring p can be omitted and the inter- V locking ofthe levers may still be perfectly secured, requiring only to have the locking-plate C moved over by hand with the signal-lever whenever the latteris withdrawn from the recess e. It will be noticed that the positive locking of each lever is effected by the lateral moyement which unlocks the other or controlling lever, and not by the throw of the lever in the slots, although the locking so eiected is maintained by the presence of the levers in the re spective slots. l

It will be understood that it would be possi. ble to have the slots b, c, i, and k barely wide enough to allow the longitudinal movement ot' the levers; but as such appliances are exposed to the weather and to the accumulation of obstructions upon them, and, moreover, do not require nice fitting, I deem it more practicable to make the slots wideenough to admit of some play for the levers, depending upon the enl arge ments a a to prevent any appreciable oscillation of the locking-plate.

Having thus described the nature and object of my improvements, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of a switch-lever, :a signal-lever, a fixed slotted and recessed guideplate, and anoscillating slotted and recessed locking-plate, substantially as and t'or the purposes described.

2. Thecombination, with the oscillatinglock ing-plate, ofthe enlargements aA a on the leversf" substantially as and for the purposes described. 3. The locking-plate C, perforated, slotted,

and recessed, as described, so that it may be ALBERT GALLA'IIN CUMMINGS.

Witnesses: V

JN0. M. MAJOR, 4 J. H. SHOPP.

IOO 

